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Science Quickly

Who Laps Whom on the Walking Track--Tyrannosaurus rex or You? Science Has a New Answer

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.2639 Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2021

⏱️ 3 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

An analysis of the animal’s walking speed suggests that T. rex’s walking pace was close to that of a human. It’s too bad the king of the dinosaurs didn’t just walk when hungry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Understanding the human body is a team effort. That's where the Yachtel group comes in.

0:05.8

Researchers at Yachtolt have been delving into the secrets of probiotics for 90 years.

0:11.0

Yacold also partners with nature portfolio to advance gut microbiome science through the global grants for gut health, an investigator-led research program.

0:19.6

To learn more about Yachtolt, visit yawcco.com.j.j, that's Y-A-K-U-L-T dot-C-O-J-P.

0:28.4

When it comes to a guide for your gut, count on Yacolt.

0:32.7

This is Scientific American's 60-second science.

0:36.2

I'm Christopher in Taguata.

0:39.1

No one has ever seen a Tyrannosaurus walk. Still, movies like Jurassic Park have guessed

0:44.8

how fast it would have done that. Now scientists have used the skeleton of a T-Rex to model

0:51.8

the biomechanics of the animal's stride. And they've estimated it strutted

0:56.1

at a leisurely pace on par with humans, ostriches, elephants, and giraffes. And it's not just limited to

1:02.8

those animals, horses, gazelles, news. Turns out that actually most animals don't tend to walk

1:10.0

super fast.

1:11.4

Pasha von Bailert is a movement scientist at Vryi University in Amsterdam.

1:15.6

His team studied the skeleton of a T-Rex housed in a Dutch museum.

1:19.8

The specimen, nicknamed Tricks, is exceptionally well preserved,

1:23.8

so they were able to see how ligaments would have attached to and linked the animal's tail bones.

1:29.1

Those ligaments, they would have acted like rubber bands,

1:32.0

and the researchers used mathematical modeling to study how they would have given the tail bounce

1:36.7

as the T-Rex walked.

1:38.7

The animal could have taken advantage of that natural bouncy rhythm to save energy as it moved.

1:44.1

That is basically resonance. You get more movement for less effort if you choose the correct

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